130 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Mahch 16, 188a. 



just in time to catch the morning train for Cleveland. I put 

 'in an appearance at the banking office and was sharply 

 reprimanded for returning so soon without any game. When 

 1 assured the Ba nker that 1 had more game at the station than 

 I could carry and was after a team, he -hardly knew what 

 rebuke to administer for the apparent trifling. When I 

 returned a little later with his team and asked him to go with 

 me to the station and help load the game, he began to realize 

 that I had not been on an entire fool's errand and that 1 cer- 

 tainly had heavy game at the station. He accompanied me, 

 and "when the baggage-room was opened and the game 

 showed be was as excited and delighted as I had been. He 

 posted the evening papers, who published the exploit. The 

 next day several 'parties went down the road deer-hunting, 

 but I had probably killed the last wild deer in that part of 

 the State; at least, 'I was so informed by Columbus people 

 nine years afterward. Milton P. Pierce. 



We>onah, N. J., March, 1883. 



MY FIRST DEER. 



TN 1 340. for Tippecanoe and Tyler too, I cast my first 

 Presidential vote, and shot my first deer. I was residing 

 at that time in the pleasant seaport town of Machias, then 

 and now the shire of Washington county, Maine. One of 

 the peculiarities of its denizens was that what you had not 

 done you could not do, particularly if you were'young folks; 

 this, with my love for a "still-hunt" and "we'll give you fel- 

 lows fifty cents a pound for all the deer meat you'll kill," 

 were strong inducements to try what could be done- 

 Early morn, July 10, found" my companion ' 'Bob Poster" 

 and the writer, with the necessary accompanying documents, 

 footing it up to Whitneyville, four miles. Placing our birch 

 canoe m the water we began to unload and get ready for a 

 start. As the upper deck of a "birch" consists entirely of 

 air it is important that the cargo should be packed in the 

 hold, and just as near the bottom as possible. Everything 

 in place, we took positions as follows: F. in the stern, my- 

 self in the bow, wedged in between the ribs just as far as my 

 own ribs would admit — sitting on my heels with knees and 

 toes on the bottom — midships occupied by camping and cook- 

 ing utensils, rations and "Jack," a little why Scotch terrier 

 kindly loaned by Mr. W., the postmaster, who was also Jack's 

 master and one of the syndicate making the above liberal 

 offer of 50 cts. per pound. Jack was of the knd a great deal 

 of dog done up in a very little skin, and next to being second 

 assistant postmaster, deer hunting was his forte. 



Constant paddling, a few carries, a sharp lookout on the 

 banks of the river" for game, and in it for rocks and log^s, 

 made our arrival at the mouth of a spring brook quite satis- 

 factory. Here we caught, cooked and ate a good trout dinner, 

 and decided our manual of action in case the object of pursuit 

 was found. Before sundown we reached an elevated point 

 on the west side of the river a little below "Great Palls," 

 nearly forty miles from home, where we were to camp first 

 night. 



After an examination, unpacking, supper, fixing the cedar 

 boughs and making a big smudge for the use if not benefit of 

 the pre-occupants, we took a look at the "big carry," which 

 would be in order early in the morning, and a stroll by the 

 river side to see if anything was lying round loose, then re- 

 turned to quarters feeling satisfied with the day's work. 



Listening to mosquitoes never was my best prescription for 

 sleep. Jack stood watch the best of any of us because more 

 experienced and at home, and keeping off the ampazans fell 

 principally on humanity. 



Toward daylight we heard a noise — pat, pat, great big 

 drops — soon it became wet rain, very wet, and we found our 

 camp well adapted to letting in the rain as well as letting out 

 the dark; there being no "deacon's seat" we hitched up back, 

 but all to no purpose. 



Having been up the river the previous autumn, I knew 

 there was a good camp a few miles above and we decided to 

 go for it. Taking a hasty bite and tying up the gunlocks 

 with our pocket handkerchiefs, the birch was reloaded and 

 soon we were at the foot of the carry on the opposite side the 

 river. The narrow path and high bushes wet the last dry 

 thread we had on. After tipping the water out of the birch no 

 time was lost m relaunching. Soon after, as we turned a 

 bend of the river and looked up to an island perhaps 600 

 yards distant, there in the tall grass, broadside too, stood a 

 big buck in his bright, well-fitting summer coat, the hand- 

 somest animal yet seen in my life, alternately feeding and 

 raising his head, looking several times, as' we thought, 

 directly down upon us, when not a motion was made or 

 hardly a breath drawn, and no sharper or more anxious 

 eyes looked that look than Jack's, apparently boss overall. 

 When feeding wc put in the double quick and worked for deer 

 life; we were obliged to, not that we were out of meat, but the 

 current was strong against us. Thinking we were within 200 

 yards I removed the handkerchief, laid the muzzle over the 

 Dow, took ' 'any position. " Soon crack went the rifle, out of it. 

 went two patched conical bullets, "60 to the pound, "one enter- 

 ing just back the foreshoulder, the other passing through top of 

 theneck. Atthesameinstaut out jumps Jack taking m "right 

 smart" water, and within two of getting all of us into the 

 river. The. deer jumped sideways and foil flat out of sight. 

 "You've fixed him," said F. Hardly had he spoken before 

 the deer was up looking directly at us. He got off the island, 

 swam the river, and in climbing up the bank fell over back- 

 ward twice. Being successful in reaching the top, I took 

 Poster's smoothbore loaded with buckshot, had him set me 

 on shore, and soon reached his beat where the blood spurt- 

 ings were plainly visible from every leap he made. In the 

 meantime P. goes out into the river again to pick up the 

 dog, who was hardly able to hold his own, but soon called 

 me back as the buck had returned to the water. I stepped 

 down and into the birch, we were soon near our game, he 

 having Laid himself panting and kicking on a little tuft or 

 hassock part way across the river. 



As wc approached he partially raised his head. The look 

 that came from those eyes is not forgotten, and with feelings 

 of regret I pulled the trigger and ended his sufferings. Jack 

 jumped on to the body, holding a sort of post mortem. We 

 put a cord around his neck, took him in tow, and paddled for 

 the shore, where we met the most numerous reception in all 

 my life. Black flies! Oh, the black flies! Both air and 

 woods full of 'em. We lost no time in letting them have 

 other blood beside our own; and, while removing the entrails, 

 taking off the head, the horns, being in their soft or velvet 

 state, "no good," decided our trophy should be got home 

 that same day before dark, the obstacles to which were rain 

 still pouring, two journeys at each carry, forty-two miles' 

 travel, more cargo and a headwind; in our favor was the 

 current, nor yet seven o'clock, andat least one "extra pluck." 

 Placing the deer's head on top of a big stump, tying his legs 

 so as to admit o£ a. "shoulder-pole," never having tried 



Crockett's method (on the. bottom of the river), we made no 

 attempt to reload anything but the canoe; thai Accomplished, 

 we started without a single good-bye to the flies, mosquitoes, 

 etc. What would that "have been among so many? Alter 

 a few hours' work, an internal feeling reminded us we had 

 bad little or no breakfast. The rain ceased, we made a land- 

 ing, then a big fire, and intended fried deer's heart to be 

 part of the menu; but Jack, having been very busily engaged 

 guarding the birch, had appropriated that part to himself, so 

 salt pork was in order. No time was to be lost. With a 

 square meal, we were soon on the way, and plied the paddles 

 with a will that meant and was business About two P. M. 

 the sun came out; this increased our zeal and gave another 

 steady boost. Before sundown we reached Whitneyville. 

 hired a team to take us home, "before dark" being part of 

 the bargain.! which was faithfully performed, and anlveel 

 about eight P. M. Our return "with the largest deer ever 

 brought into the town" was soon noised about. Hundreds 

 came to see it. It was nicely dressed, and weighed a little 

 under 2001bs. Jack returned to his post-office and we to our 

 homes. The next morning distributions were made. Some 

 parts of the meat (which in color much resembled veal, hav- 

 ing been killed in fiue condition and without running) were 

 slightly salted, making the best corned meat I ever tasted, 

 and finally the skin made into soft, serviceable leather, well 

 adapted for slippers and dry weather. J. B. 



Partridge Shooting in February. — Worcester, Mass., 

 March 11, 1882. — So much has been said about the scarcity 

 of partridges in New England and other States, that it would 

 hardly seem possible that there could be a locality in Worces- 

 ter county where they were so plentiful that an organized 

 club could afford to shoot them on the 27th day of February 

 for a club supper, even to say nothing of the disregard for 

 the game law of the State, which all organized clubs are sup- 

 posed to respect, obey and enforce. Yet we read in the last 

 issue of Forest and Stream, under date of March 2, that 

 the gun club of Winchendon, Mass. , did have a hunt on the 

 27th of February in which ' 'sides were chosen, the agreement 

 being that the losing side should pay for the suppers." The 

 report says further that ' 'James Sutherland and party reported 

 with twenty-two rabbits, two partridges and one squirrel. 

 The game "supper was served at the American House," and 

 after supper "President Brown made a stirring speech." 

 Now, if this report be correct, and it must be so regarded 

 until contradicted, it would seem that the town of Winchen- 

 don presents a field for a missionary or a constable, or per- 

 haps both. If the members of the Winchendon Gun Club 

 are so lost to all shame, and have no more regard for law or 

 common decency than to get up such a disgraceful affair, 

 they will confer" a favor to the sportsmen of this State by 

 keeping it entirely to themselves, for it is terribly humiliating 

 to have the sportsmen of the country know that such a club 

 exists in Massachusetts. Certainly if we believed such affairs 

 were of common occurrence we should blush to own that we 

 lived in the State. It is commonly supposed that game pro- 

 tection is one of the leading objects of all sportsmen's clubs 

 it certainly should be, else the fewer clubs the better. — K. 



The Michigan Sportsmen's Association. — Editor Forest 

 ami Stream : At a meeting of the Executive Committee of 

 the Michigan Sportsmen's" Association, held in Grand Rapids, 

 March 8, the following gentlemen were present: President, 

 E. 8. Holmes, Grand Rapids ; C. W. Higby, Jackson ; Secre- 

 tary W. B. Mershon, East Saginaw. The following business 

 wa's transacted, as the secretary had received a very limited 

 correspondence regarding the calling a meeting to discuss the 

 advisability of forming a Nationaf Association. No action 

 was taken in the matter, but the secretary was instructed to 

 try and secure the views of a greater number of State associ- 

 ations and individuals also. "The English sparrow question 

 was deferred until some future meeting. C. W. Higby, of Jack- 

 son, was appointed State game and fish warden and mission- 

 ary, with instructions to form clubs whenever possible, also 

 to enforce the laws when broken. His salary and expenses 

 are to he paid by contributions from the clubs and sportsmen 

 of the State; the more freely the contributions are made the 

 more effective will be his work, and it is hoped the sports- 

 men and game protectionists of Michigan will keep Mi - . Hig- 

 by in the fleld the entire time. — Duearge. 



Enforce Existing Laws. — Of all the remarkable game 

 laws I have ever seen, the proposed law for Ohio, published 

 in your paper of March 9, certainly takes the cake. It 

 provides "that section 6961 of the revised statutes be so 

 amended as to read as follows;" and in the next section, 

 ■ 'that said section 6961 be and the same is hereby repealed." 

 Unless people in Ohio use language differently from other 

 people, the effect would be simply to repeal the section and 

 put nothing in its place. H this would not be the effect, 

 and if such is the regular and orthodox way of amending a 

 statute in Ohio, I can only say they do things queerly in that 

 State. Respecting the policy of the proposed amendment 

 (or of what we may suppose to be intended,) I have only to 

 say that it seems like the very common error of trying to 

 make up for the lax enforcement of a law, by enacting a 

 new law, more severe or more sweeping in its provisions. 

 The fact is, and the sooner it is recognized the better, that 

 what all legitimate interests require is, generally speaking, 

 not new laws, but the enforcement of existing ones. — 8. H. 



South Abington Club. — South Abiugfon Station, Mass., 

 March 6. At the annual election of officers of the South 

 Abington Sportsmen's Club the following officers were 

 elected for the ensuing year, viz.: Beth P. Gurnev. Presi- 

 dent; Chas. Bickford. 1st Vice-President; Henry A. Whiting. 

 2d Vice-President; Wm. H. Cook, Secretary. C.P.Cook, 

 Treasurer; M. \V. Lincoln. Captain. The first badge shoot 

 comes off on Fast Day.— W. H. C. 



Chesapeake Ducks.— The Cecil (Md.) Xlemwn^ reports: 

 Not in many years have there been such an abundance of 

 wild ducks and geese as there is this winter. The re-ports 

 are that the Chesapeake, the Choptauk. I he Eastern Bay and 

 Miles and Wye rivers are teeming with water fowl. The 

 ducks are chiefly redheads and blackheads. In Miles River 

 and Eastern Bay gunners are loving all the sport they want 

 shooting blackheads from bailed blinds, 



"How to Choose a Gun."— In the last number of your 

 paper, the types made my article say, "When the shooting is 

 of such a character that the gun has to be carried around 

 very little, it is just as well to get a large size, so that the 

 heavier loads used will do no more damage to the game." 

 The word "no" should have been omitted, as it gives a "mean- 

 ing opposite to what was intended.— C W. T. 



p<i mid |£fer egishing. 



It happened to be "both the hour and the day when fish with one 

 accord begin to feed. The eldest, truest, and deepest chip of the 

 a,neient block of Zebedee (who is pretty sure, even in these tumble 

 down times, to be of apostolical succession), however shrewd his 

 study of the loaves and fishes, cannot predict when the fish will want 

 their loaf, but is ready to present them with the hook upon demand. 

 The water ia the same, and the weather has not changed; to the keen- 

 est human eye. and sense there is no sign of difference, yet certain is it 

 that for hours together no trout will ereu look at the very finest fare ; 

 and then all of a sudden, as if the dinner-bell rang, off scampers every 

 trout to his private napkin-ring, wags his tail, and fans his fins, and 

 goes up and down like a corporation saying grace.— it. D. Blaokmobk, 

 in "Christoweia." 



CAMP FLOTSAM. 



III. BLACK BASS — I'KAUTICAULY CONSIDERED. 



THE black bass have been, until within a few years, an 

 almost unknown fish in many localities in the' State of 

 New York. Like most new arrivals, their co min g was at 

 tended with many rumors concerning their previous stand- 

 ing and respectability, in well as thlir habits, peculiarities 

 and idiosyncracies. Most of these rumors were Utterly without 

 foundation, so far as truth went, yet by reason thereof a 

 noble fish has been cursed with a reputation for capricious- 

 ness which is undeserved and far beyond the reality, although 

 mainly by those who have taken "no pains either through 

 study, observation or inquiry, to learn the truth concerning 

 their habits. We have in out mind oue who has long pro- 

 fessed himself a lover of fish and of fishing, who has had deep 

 yearnings after them, yet who cannot be induced to go angl- 

 ing for black bass. "Why," he says, "you have to under- 

 stand algebra, geometry and trigonometry, and go when the 

 moon is right, and then the wind must be just so, and you 

 must fish at a certain hour, and then you can't tell whether 

 you will catch any." 



The above is a fair sample of the opinions regarding Microp- 

 teruB salmoides, held in the main by anglers of the old school, 

 whose methods are still BOttteWhat of the hoop-pole, threshing- 

 the-water, rocking-the-boat order, and from this class tlie 

 notion has been derived that the black bass is a mysterious 

 fish and very uncertain in his times of taking the bait. It is 

 difficult to dislodge an idea firmly rooted in the mind, and 

 the notions above mentioned are to a considerable extent 

 still held, together with another, that tackle not unlike the 

 traditionary hoop pole and clothes line are requisite to the 

 capture of these fish. We confess the use of heavier tackle 

 than is necessary, but we have seen the native gaze in won- 

 der and contempt at om ten-ounce rod with its light, taper 

 enameled line, and have been greeted with "Say, Mister, 

 ain't that ar' pole an' tixins rather slim fur bass?" and, 

 "W'at d'yer spect to git with that?" 



What one of the aforesaid natives expected "to git" but 

 didn't, fell under our observation a few mornings later We 

 had crossed the lake from camp and were netting minnows 

 in shallow water just off which one of these sons of the 

 mountains was anchored and fishing. There was a break, a 

 whirl and a splash in the water some ten or twelve feet from 

 his boat which drew his attention, ours too. He hastily lifted 

 one of his hoop poles, drew in the line, removed the hook and 

 attached another that might have answered for a small shark; 

 upon this he put a' suufish larger than many we were proud 

 to carry home and have cooked when a boy, and this com- 

 bination he threw near the place where he had seen the rise. 

 It had hardly more than touched the water when there was 

 another leap) and splash, a tug at the line, a quick jerk by 

 Mr. Native, and a black bass — at leastafour-poundcr — Hashed 

 along the surface and sprang bolt upright in the air. When 

 he fell back into the water it was, we judged, with about 

 three feet of slack line. It is needless to record the sequel, 

 how that bass struck out for el -ep water, how the hook and 

 hoop pole never failed, how something between the two 

 parted about the time wheu Wm fish took up the slack. 



" Great Heavins ! Heavins and arth ! did you see that 1" 

 turning to us. We nodded. "Jerusalem ! that was the 

 biggest one I ever seed — like a shad. Thunder an' lit'nin'! 

 bow he took oil' that hook; he'd a weighed seven or eight 

 pounels. Well, I swow. I'm sorry I lost 'in; guess my line 

 had a bad spot in it. It's no use talkin', ft takes good 

 riggin' to hold one of them fellers." We don't believe we 

 would have had that strike in a season's fishing, with that 

 tackle, and we wouldn't want it with any spectators. Still, 

 the fish might have been saved after he got the slack, by 

 throwing the hoop pole overboard— perhaps. Yes, one must 

 needs "understand algebra, geometry, trigonometry," and 

 have some common sense besides, to catch black bass in that 

 way. 



We have sometimes thought that Mack bass were as shy 

 anel wary as trout. We say sometimes, for in this respect 

 they seeni to lie more shy at some periods than at others, 

 and" to differ in degrees of shyness at different lakes. 



If there is anything about' a black bass which may be 

 termed capricious, it is what we cad their sudden "change 

 of bait," or more correctly speaking, their change in loud. 

 As a rule they take readily such bait as is natural to their 

 waters or shores. We think there are few exceptions to 

 (bis. among which is the shrimp and helgramite, but they 

 are: somewhat uncertain. You have royal sport for a week 

 with orawtish, when lo! on going of a morning to some fa- 

 vorite spot, you fail to get a strike. Sometimes two or three 

 days will pass before you find out " whar they have gone to. " 

 It may be frogs, minnows, crickets or grasshoppers— he not 

 surprised if you find it " wuins." Sometimes it will be this 

 and nothing else f or a week. Our old companion in the 

 camp — "Mot. 8." — alluded to in a former article, than 

 whom there is no more expert angler for black bass within 

 our acquaintanship — and we know a few — says, "If 1 can 

 have but one kind of bait for bass, give me I ae Worm for any 

 season." Common as the bait is. it certainly proves a tempt- 

 ing one. Properly put upon thehook.it is attractive and 

 lively, and good for any season in some degree. We have 

 found the best way to present it. is the one which preserves 

 its natural appearance. This is, not to string or run H Eron 

 head to tail upon the hook, but to pass the point of the hook 

 through the body so as to just cover the point and barb. 

 This permits the two cuds to bang and keep up a lively 

 wriggle. The same may be said about grubs and the famous 

 "wasp nest." With crickets and grasshoppers we prefer to 

 " string" them, that is, lo pass the point of the hook in at the 

 tail, and, traversing the body, to bring the point out through 

 the head, so you can just feel it. This makes the bait secure 

 on the hook— which should lie small— and from its tender 

 nature, especially the cricket, lias its advantages. ,\ frog is 



